Abstract [en]

This study is about leadership and directed towards the modern leadership theory Developmental leadership. The paper tries to explain some of Karl XII’s success as a leader by examining if he followed some of the principles of Developmental leadership. This is done by researching if the desirable leadership traits mentioned in Developmental leadership can also be found in narrations of Karl XII’s leadership during the late Carolinian times.

The theory of Developmental leadership has been analyzed in relation to its progenitor Transformational leadership in order to get a deeper understanding for what Developmental leadership means and increase the range of descriptions of desirable leadership traits. Three characteristics are identified that summarize the desirable traits of the theories: Role model behavior, Personal care and Inspiration and motivation.

These characteristics are then tested against narrations of Karl XII’s leadership to prove that many of the desirable leadership traits mentioned in modern leadership theories also were to be found in Karl XII’s leadership. The results of the study was that many of the traits mentioned in Developmental leadership also were found in Karl XII’s leadership, though different in regards to the meaning of some of the traits that has been altered due to cultural and religious changes by time. One last difference is that these traits and characteristics not were written down as a theoretical model during the late Carolinian times, when Karl XII ruled, which hampered the transference of knowledge and education on the field of study.